How often to you read about it after another tragedy on our roads - the tale of a newly-qualified teenage driver piling up a powerful car?

As a biker discussion topic, it raised its head again in my local the other night - during a debate on the thorny issue of power limits on motorcycles.

The question asked - Why, if it is so easy to have power graded licences for bikers of varying experience - can the same not be done for cars?

We all know that today, a new biker must jump through hoops to get his full licence - and even when he or she gets it, they are restricted for a time as to the power output of the machines they can ride, unless you go the direct access route, doing all your supervised training on a larger machine.

The result is, in my view quite properly, that new riders are forced to gain plenty of road experience on lesser powered machines before getting on something with a lot of grunt.

Contrast that with the situation for car drivers.

You can pass your driving test today in a Nissan Micra, having never been out of town and having had no motorway experience at all, and you are perfectly entitled to take an S-Type Jag towing a caravan on to the M1 tomorrow!

It's sheer madness, and makes a mockery of much of the pious spouting we get on the importance of road safety when cameras are the subject of debate.

Here is a real road safety measure that could be brought in almost at a stroke at next to no expense, and it would definitely save lives.

Accepting that the actual limit could be open to argument, what would be wrong in restricting anyone from driving anything above 1200cc during their first year as a "qualified" driver and withholding a "full" licence until the driver produces a certificate from a registered driving school to show they have had at least two hours' experience of supervised motorway driving?

So junior would not be able to borrow his or her parents' cars for a year or so.

Tough luck.

As those who support the speed camera campaign are wont to say: "If it saves lives, it's worthwhile."